Android 5.0.1 “occam” arrives for Nexus 4.
Side note: Android 5.0.2 factory image “nakasi” is now available for 2012 Wi-Fi Nexus 7.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Arrives on Nexus 4
Sometimes on Monday, November 23, 2014, my Nexus 4 informed me that Android 5.0 Lollipop is ready for download.
I’m glad that my Nexus 4 did not suffer the similar fate with my Nexus 7; it is actually usable.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Factory Image for Nexus 4 (occam) is available from Google.
Four months on, Google+ Hangouts for iOS is still better than its Android counterpart.
Google+ Hangouts for iOS gained Google Voice integration back on October 18, 2013 while its Android counterpart is still without this feature.
This sure infuriated some hardcore Android users; their comments unintentionally become comedy gold.
According to Nikhyl Singhal, a Google Employee:
- Finally, we want to make Google Voice as secure as possible. There are a few third-party applications that provide calling and SMS services by making unauthorized use of Google Voice. These apps violate our Terms of Service and pose a threat to your security, so we’re notifying these app developers that they must stop making unauthorized use of Google Voice to run their services and transition users by May 15, 2014.
Reading between the lines, there seems to be an inherent security issue in Android Platform and/or Google Voice. If not, Google would have already deployed Google Voice integration within Hangouts for Android.
I want Google Voice integration within Hangouts on my Nexus 4; and so does my colleague with his Nexus 5. I guess we all still have to wait.
Downgrading Nexus 4 to Android Jelly Bean 4.3
Shortly after I updated my Nexus 4 from Android KitKat 4.4 to 4.4.2 and finding out that tethering was still broken, I downgraded to Android Jelly Bean 4.3.
The downgrading process included unlocking the bootloader and installing Nexus 4 Android Jelly Bean 4.3 factory image.
Within the hour I once again have a functional Nexus 4 mobile hotspot.
I do not use the Nexus 4 as a phone. I don’t even know what the phone number is.
If you’re using your Nexus 4 as a mobile hotspot on T-Mobile USA network, stay away from Android KitKat.
Android KitKat 4.2.2
Sometimes on Thursday, December 12, 2013 both my Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 received the Android KitKat 4.2.2 update. My colleague’s Nexus 5 received the update on Wednesday, December 11, 2013.
After updating to Android 4.2 KitKat, I tested the tethering and mobile hotspot feature. It is even more broken than before, specifically within T-Mobile USA network. If your Nexus 4 still running Android Jelly Bean 4.3 and you use it as a mobile hotspot, avoid Android KitKat at all cost.
Does Android KitKat Detect Unauthorized Tethering on T-Mobile USA Network?
According to a few Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 users, Android KitKat now detects unauthorized Tethering on T-Mobile USA network.
A colleague of ours noticed that after upgrading to Android KitKat on a Nexus 4, Tethering & portable hotspot no longer works. Devices connected to the Wi-Fi hotspot are redirected to T-Mobile login page.
When an iPhone is connected to the Wi-Fi Hotspot from a Nexus 4 running Android KitKat, options to “Auto-join” and “Auto-login” appears.
The iPhone then tries to connect to a T-Mobile login page, but the page never loads.
We then use a Nexus 5 which came with Android KitKat pre-installed to create a wi-Fi hotspot. The result was the same, it forces connected devices to log in.
Another colleague of ours still has a Nexus 4 running Android Jelly Bean 4.3. The Nexus 4 is connected to T-Mobile USA network and without tethering plan. Devices connected the Wi-Fi hotspot created by the Android Jelly Bean-running Nexus 4 were not asked to log in.
We then inserted a working AT&T micro-SIM card into the Nexus 4 with Android KitKat. We had no issues using tethering through this phone.
At this point, it seems that Google has added codes in Android KitKat that detect unauthorized tethering. So far, it only affects Nexus phones (4 and 5) on T-Mobile USA network. We purchased the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 from Google Play SIM-free and unlocked.
Is it possible that Google has added this “feature” to appease T-Mobile?
After all, Google has partnered up with T-Mobile (and Sprint) to sell Nexus 5.
We recommend users to wait from upgrading to Android KitKat on their Nexus 4.
It has stopped.
My Nexus 4 received the Android 4.4 Kit Kat update on Thursday November 23, 2013. For some reasons the update was unsuccessful. I’d blast the factory image onto it later.
